Dotty's Teahouse 2nd birthday celebrations

Dotty's Teahouse, where I have sold my cards since opening day, is going to be 2 on Saturday! How incredible is that? 2 years since I started selling my cards and I have recently numbered up card number 700.
I love walking down there with my new stock and this was the view early this morning.

Dotty's has gone from strength to strength and recently redecorated the back room in an Alice in Wonderland theme...just fab decor!

And Rebecca (the owner) has started hosting Alice themed afternoon teas which have gone down a storm. This is a photo of one...just look at those cakes!

This Saturday, to tie in with all the Royal Wedding celebrations there is a "Right Royal Tea party"!

The flag and bunting is all up and ready for the celebrations.

I have taken down some new cards and given one of my card shelves a red, white and blue theme.

The chandelier is lit

and the vintage tea cups are ready to be filled to the brim.

Sadly I can't make the celebrations this year as we have another date in our diary but I have made a special card for the occasion, which I hand delivered to dear Rebecca and her team this morning.

I made the background using the brilliant brand new Visible Image Sax it up, Jazz man stencil

and their unique, quirky Union Jack stencil.

 I used white card stock and taped the Union Jack stencil down with low tack masking tape. I blended Festive berries distress ink through the stencil and removed it. After drying I then taped down the Jazz man and used Blueprint Sketch distress ink and repeated the process.

Meet my very patriotic jazz man! I cut round the border, leaving the white space, and matted and layered with red and blue card onto a large white card blank.

I added some glittery tea cups, (well I had to didn't I) and a glittery bow tie, which I cut out, to the jazz man. I also used some snippets of card to die cut my words......

here is my finished card.

with a couple of close ups

These are such fab stencils and double up brilliantly too. If you are not a stamper they are an easy way to create very unique projects.
I would like to enter my card into the following challenges;

Simon says stamp Monday stencil it
Pixie's Snippets Playground #326
Creative moments 1/3 anything goes
Simon says stamp Wednesday stencil it

So I would like to wish Harry and Meghan a happy Wedding day and a great marriage and I would like to wish my favourite tea shop, Dotty's, a very

Happy 2nd Birthday!

(And I supposed I should wish myself a happy 2nd anniversary of card selling!)

If you are ever in the area you can find Dotty's at 108 High Street, Carshalton, Surrey.

And if you are around this Saturday there will be a right royal welcome for you!

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

My Royal Visit

The long awaited day arrived and I set off on the train up to Victoria Railway station knowing that I would soon see "The Dress" in the flesh.

I am lucky to be able to get up to Victoria within 30 minutes from my local railway station. Buckingham Palace is only a few minutes walk from the station.

I arranged to meet my Mum and my Aunt at Victoria at 10.15 am so that we would have plenty of time to arrive for our 10.45am slot at the Palace, they are all timed tickets.

As we made our way past the gates of the Palace we saw lot of a adverts for the opening of the State Rooms. It was very busy in the area.

Eventually we found our way to the correct gate and then had to queue to get through security.

Once through security obviously (sadly) we were unable to take any further photos so I will give a written guide to what I saw.

Everyone was given a free audio guide which worked really well as it kept the crowds moving all the time. Several of the State rooms in all their glory were open to the public. We entered and walked up the red carpet of the main staircase. Even the decoration of the bannister's were dripping gold leaf and intricate designs.   One of my favourite rooms was the Throne Room where the formal photos of William and Kate's wedding were. The decoration in there was just magical.

After meandering through the opulence of the different reception rooms we arrived at where "The Dress" was on display. There was almost a hush from the crowd as we approached. Then everyone seemed to gasp. The dress is in the centre of the room with special netting around to protect it. In the flesh it is just stunning. The detail of the back of the dress which has folds like a flower bud are wonderful. Every piece of lace was made by hand and stitched on by hand. It is a very pale ivory colour.  The needlewoman used new needles every 3 hours to keep them sharp. Also on display was Kate's diamond tiara, a replica of her flowers, her diamond earrings and her lace covered shoes. I was surprised to see that she wore very high heels for the day...."killer heels" as my daughter would describe them. The same lace was used on the shoes as on  her dress.

Through in the next room was their wedding cake which I thought was as spectacular as the dress and a joy to see. Here is a link to it. As a fellow cake maker I could see the skill in making all those wonderful flowers in sugar paste. The attention to detail was phenomenal.17 different flowers and leaves were included which all had special meanings in the "Language of flowers".

After finishing our tour we were able to sit outside and have lunch in the garden cafe, and also take some photos!

This is the back exit of the Palace leading into the gardens.

With my zoom I managed to get a photo of one of the chandeliers through an open window. The lights were an exhibition all of their own. They sparkled brilliantly and were so large they hung like huge dripping waterfalls of gems from the ceilings.





On the left below is the garden cafe where we enjoyed some lunch. I had a smoked salmon bagel, cup of tea and.................

No less than Buckingham Palace strawberry ice cream....yum!

We then were able to stroll round the footpath of some of the garden towards the shop

We then headed further round the garden and enjoyed some splendid views of the back of the Palace.

and some of the garden and the lake..

So what did I bring home...well I bought the post card which I have shown a photo of at the very beginning of this post, here is it's reverse...a "real" Royal postcard..

and as I bought a CK tea towel at the time of the wedding I though I would buy one at the Palace too.

It's very pretty and will also be useful, I do like souvenirs that I can actually enjoy using. Much better than something sitting in a cabinet or hidden away.

If you get a chance, do go to see "The Dress", it is worth the time. One other thing, if you buy your tickets on line and "gift aid" the money (if you are a UK tax Payer) you can get your ticket stamped at the exit and it becomes a whole year pass. Seriously.....I can go back again, as many times as I want, before 18th August 2012. My daughter really wanted to come today but work commitments stopped her. However I can now wait until she can take a day off and I can go back with her before the exhibition shuts in October. I can also go again when the State rooms re open next Summer, how good is that?

I hope you enjoyed you visit with me. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, we're nearly there again. It's been quite dull weather wise this week here in Surrey. We are off to a family and soon to be "In Laws" barbecue on Saturday. It will be fun, what ever the weather.
Enjoy your weekend and thanks always for your visits and comments.

Bye for now,

Jane x

The Royal Wedding

After a gap of nearly 30 years since his own father married, Prince William is marrying Kate Middleton (or Catherine as she really is) this Friday, 29th April. I remember very vividly the last "big" Royal Wedding with Prince Charles and Diana Spencer as they got married 4 days after I did!. Yes my own wedding was 25th July 1981 and they married on the Wednesday, 29th July. My dear Hb and I were on our honeymoon at the time and all the service, which we watched on the TV in the hotel lounge, was dubbed into Spanish. It was very memorable and very funny.

Without stating the obvious, sadly Charles and Diana's fate seemed sealed from the start. She was the same age as me too (her birthday was 1st July). At the beginning I felt slight pangs of jealously that she had infinite wealth whilst we started our married life in a rented flat with me still a physiotherapy student. Nearly 30 years later I know that I am the one who was truly blessed and I will be celebrating my Pearl Wedding with my darling Hb in July.....sneak peek...we are going on a rather special break for this and I will take the camera with me..!!

I honestly wish this couple the very best. They do seem very suited, they have been together for a very long time now and Kate appears, unlike the poor naive Diana, quite at ease with all that will be expected of her. She also appears to have a man who genuinely loves and respects her.

I do like to buy a little something to commemorate these occasions and you all saw my Cath Kidston Royal Wedding tea towel in another post but here it is again.

But look what I managed to find in good old Mark's and Spencer's...

It's made by a good Staffordshire pottery, I do like to support British firms for this type of souvenir. It has got both their names on and the date of the wedding at the back.

It's also a rather large square cup and is more like a mug size which suits me well.

One other fun thing I bought is the limited edition Oyster card which is being sold just this week. It will join my Tutankhamen one which I showed you all in this post.

We are lucky enough to be celebrating my daughter's future father-in-law's birthday that very day, in the evening. We have also been given a bank holiday here in the UK to enjoy the celebrations.I shall be tuned into the TV in the morning to watch the pomp and ceremony of the Wedding on the TV. We are pretty good at staging these things, I am sure it will be wonderful. I shall drink my tea from my Royal Wedding tea cup and saucer and later we will drive down to Kent to continue with some more celebrating, but of the birthday kind.

I also found this on the front of my favourite tonic to go with my Bombay Sapphire...you know what I shall also be drinking to help with the celebrations!

I hope you all enjoy the wedding too, wherever you are in the world, and I really do wish this couple a happy, long life together. I can heartily recommend marriage. Like William's mother I was a 20 year old in July 1981 taking her first steps with her new husband and it really was the best decision I ever made in my life. I have a feeling they may well be blessed, lets hope so.

Cheers!

Bye for now,

Jane x